What's life like for LGBTQ people in Ethiopia?
Let’s take a look at some of the key equality measures.
What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Ethiopia? Let’s take a look at some of the key equality measures.
Is homosexuality legal in Ethiopia?
No. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal.
The penal code prohibits homosexuality and sets a punishment of imprisonment for up to 15 years.
Are there anti-discrimination protections in place for LGBTQ people in Ethiopia?
No. There are no protections from discrimination on the grounds of sexuality.
Is there Marriage Equality in Ethiopia?
No. There is no legal recognition of same-sex relationships.
What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Ethiopia?
Ethiopia is a socially conservative country.
Homophobia is systemic and LGBTQ people are forced to conceal their sexuality.
What’s the history of homosexuality in Ethiopia?
Travelling Ethiopia in the 1920s Irving Bieber encountered ‘Uranism’ found among the Harari people, and noted that “sodomy is not foreign to the Harari. Albeit not as commonly, it also occurs among the Oromo and Somali."
Uranism is derived from the word Uranian – this was a 19th-century term used to refer to homosexual men. The term was first documented by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs.
In his journals of his travels in Ethiopia, Irving Bieber also noted mutual masturbation by men and boys of all ages in the Harari, Oromo, and Somali people.
Bieber specified that among the Harari, “Uranism” was practiced as often between adult men as between men and boys.
Additional observations were recorded by Frederick Gamst. He reported homosexual relations among shepherd boys of the Cushitic-speaking Qemant people of central Ethiopia.
